Friday Buzz: Mine Your Meetings for Content Gold

How to use your meetings to create valuable content. Also: Refine your call-for-presentations process.

April 14, 2017

Heads up: this content is over 5 years old, so some information may be out of date.

Don’t let another annual meeting go by without taking advantage of the gold mine of content that your event generates. Association Adviser shares a few ways to create unique content that you can use all year  (opens in a new tab).

Start with your speakers. Take advantage of their expertise by asking them to provide a written article along with their presentation slides. You can use that article online or in your print publication as an educational resource for your members.

Also, be sure to leverage the professional acumen of your exhibitors.

“Many exhibiting companies put in great effort to create the perfect white papers, infographics, videos, and other educational offerings for attendees,” writes Heather Carnes. “Ask exhibitors to share these materials up front, and comb through them to extract relevant ideas, statistics, trends, and visuals for members.”

Picking Presenters

https://twitter.com/betsbair/status/852528376690692096  (opens in a new tab)

Does your call-for-presentations process need some updating? Velvet Chainsaw Consulting details best practices to ensure that you’re getting the best speakers to your meetings  (opens in a new tab).

Make sure your members are hearing unique, original talks. Weed out stale presentations by asking on the submission form if speakers have given their talks at other meetings.

And take inspiration from agile tech developers “who now do multiple sprints for complex projects,” writes Dave Lutz. “Break up the process into several major themes, and open submissions for two to three weeks max for each. This will deliver improved marketing value, increase relevance, and chunk the process for both staff and volunteers.”